Generally there are more fields than it fit in screen, then It is necessary that screen scrolls smoothly also.

If the user touches inside a field, it is necessary that keyboard automaticaly shows up, and the screen scrolls smoothly to keyboard do not hides the touched field. Sometimes there are top and bottom bars on the screen, and the fields must scrolls under these bars.

When user touches outside a field, the keyboard needs to close automaticaly, and the screen scrolls down to its normal state. Finally, must be possible to user scrolls the screen with his finger.

It is so common and obvious that it should be a native feature of Corona.

mrctito@gmail.com

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mrctito@gmail.com

Observer

11 posts

Corona SDK

05 March 2015 - 01:07 PM

I disagree of you because CoronaLabs tells to the market that Corona SDK is able to develop business app too. You can see this in your website. Then, to develop the most business apps, with great quality, UI is primary concern. Obviously there are some situations that UI is not so important, but generally is.

When Corona Labs tells to the market that Corona SDK is able to develop business app without any restrictions, it creates a great expectations and the customers naturally want to all your needs be solved.

I would like Corona Labs publish a formal answer to this question, because the CoronaSDK users that love this tool have hope and keep waiting, and asking.

Rob Miracle

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Rob Miracle

Moderator

25,376 posts

Enterprise

05 March 2015 - 06:16 PM

Corona SDK is a great framework and you can do many things with it, but you can't do everything with it. There are hundreds of business and utility-type apps which have been done with Corona SDK, but that said, I would not try and build a spreadsheet app with it, as one example. Many things are really easy to accomplish with Corona SDK, but some things require more work, and some things require more challenging workarounds.

Walter once said something that helps explain this. While I know "Flash” (Adobe Flash) is kind of a bad word in mobile, let’s take a step back to the mid 2000’s. You could build very clever, creative, and powerful websites using Flash, but if you wanted to build a site that looked like an HTML form, you wouldn't use Flash for that. When you say that you can't build UIs with Corona SDK, that’s very misleading… in fact, you can build incredibly powerful and creative UIs using Corona SDK. Now, should you attempt to build a spreadsheet with it? Probably not, but many other apps that require text input fall somewhere below that threshold.

Now with that said, the more text input-intensive your app is, the more challenging it will be to implement in Corona. Platforms like Android and iOS and Windows Phone 8 are different in how text fields behave. It's really hard to do this in a cross-platform way because the native UIs are radically different across each platform, the keyboards have different behaviors, and other variances in each OS factor signficantly into the overall picture. Because we lean toward a graphics-based approach vs. a “native UI” approach, you have to think about ways to integrate native text input into a high-end graphics engine.

If native controls are the absolute most important and dominant factor in your project, then perhaps Corona SDK isn't the tool for you… but if you can work within the limits imposed as you think about your business apps, there are plenty of opportunities to build them, and build great ones at that.

As a final comment, @Marcos, I see nothing in your proposed list that Corona cannot handle, except for "fields must scroll under these bars”. Everything else can be accomplished in Corona without undue difficulty.

mrctito@gmail.com

I do not want to develop a spreadsheet. I want to develop business apps, and as a usual in this market, people like to focus on business, not in the programming.

Some years ago in ERP world, we had two most popular choices: Delphi and C++. It was possible to develop everything with C++, but Delphi became more popular because with it you could be much more productive. I have already developed Payroll, HR and Backoffice solutions in both C++, Delphi, Natural/Adabás, VB, Clipper and Cobol, but Delphi was the best.

Nowadays C++ still is a very powerfull language, but generally people prefer Java or .NET to develop robust and big business solutions, because Java and .NET have libraries, components, default functionalities and powerfull IDE, that make the developer's life easiest.

I know that it is possible to develop amazing things with Corona, I know Corona is very powerfull, I know that almost every Apps could be developed in many different tools, and I know that I can create elegant UI in a smart way that allow me avoid specific issues, but as hundreds of other developers, I always try to search easiest solutions.

I do not want to fight with Corona Labs, I wanted just a position: will CoronaLabs try to improve Corona SDK to be more productive in business apps area, in order to developers need to write less code?

I have already developed small apps in both XCode/Swift and PhoneGap, but I like much more Corona.

corona273

will CoronaLabs try to improve Corona SDK to be more productive in business apps area, in order to developers need to write less code?

<mrcito>: Corona SDK is not a new product. It's not even a startup, post-acquisition. It was founded seven years ago, in 2008, and has a mature SDK. After seven years, if core Corona functionality does not do what you want, it is a fair assumption that it will continue not to do what you want in the foreseeable future.

(I say this as someone who is writing a non-game app with Corona, and a fairly complex one at that.)

There is a lot Corona could do in the business app area to make things easier such as wrappers around more native APIs, in the same way that text fields and webviews and popups have been wrapped.

But Corona has chosen not to do so. In fact, all signs are that they're heading in the opposite direction and supporting a smaller "core Corona" set of APIs across a growing number of platforms. This expands the number of platforms but makes uses such as yours more challenging.